Phoenix makes it work: Elon tops UNCW in opener NCAA regional

By Bob Sutton / Times-News

Published: Saturday, June 1, 2013 at 01:24 AM.

Elon’s Andrew MacDonald (5-1) was the winning pitcher after yielding a single that tied the game, but he was credited with 3 1/3 shutout innings. UNCW brought the potential tying run to the plate in the ninth after a two-out single and walk before a groundout that second baseman Chris Bresnahan fielded and won the race to second base for the force-out.

“Whenever MacDonald is out there, we feel confident,” Bresnahan said. “He has been reliable all year and he came through.”

Two mighty swings in the sixth inning changed Elon’s fortunes. Alvarez’s two-out, bases-clearing double tied the game at 5-5. Wil Leathers followed with a pinch-hit home run.

But the Seahawks upped their total of two-out runs to seven by tying the game in the bottom of the inning.

Elon starter Kyle Webb, pitching in a third consecutive game, couldn’t notch the third out of the sixth. He was charged with one run after he departed, giving up 10 hits.

“He kept us in the game,” Kennedy said. “He’s tired.”

Elon was back ahead in the seventh on Ryan Kinsella’s one-out RBI grounder to second base.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — It figures that Elon University baseball coach Mike Kennedy can agree with just about everything his team is doing these days.

Even spotting the opponents leads seems to be working out.

“We actually say, ‘Let them score first,’ “ Elon shortstop Antonio Alvarez said after Friday night’s 10-7 victory against UNC Wilmington in the NCAA regional at Davenport Field. “Being behind doesn’t faze this team. We feed off that and are just going into every game knowing our guys are going to come through.”

The first part of that response drew a fun-hearted perplexed look from Kennedy, who pointed that out dealing with deficits isn’t his preferred strategy.

But at this point in the season, it’s whatever it takes to keep going and the Phoenix seems to have found that. It holds a six-game winning streak for its longest stretch of success since 2010.

Elon (33-28) takes on regional top seed Virginia (48-10), a 2-1 victor against Army in the first game, at 6 tonight in front of what’s bound to be a raucous crowd. UNCW (37-22) tries to keep its season alive at 1 p.m. against Army (29-22).

Elon’s Andrew MacDonald (5-1) was the winning pitcher after yielding a single that tied the game, but he was credited with 3 1/3 shutout innings. UNCW brought the potential tying run to the plate in the ninth after a two-out single and walk before a groundout that second baseman Chris Bresnahan fielded and won the race to second base for the force-out.

“Whenever MacDonald is out there, we feel confident,” Bresnahan said. “He has been reliable all year and he came through.”

Two mighty swings in the sixth inning changed Elon’s fortunes. Alvarez’s two-out, bases-clearing double tied the game at 5-5. Wil Leathers followed with a pinch-hit home run.

But the Seahawks upped their total of two-out runs to seven by tying the game in the bottom of the inning.

Elon starter Kyle Webb, pitching in a third consecutive game, couldn’t notch the third out of the sixth. He was charged with one run after he departed, giving up 10 hits.

“He kept us in the game,” Kennedy said. “He’s tired.”

Elon was back ahead in the seventh on Ryan Kinsella’s one-out RBI grounder to second base.

“If you don’t have that success (with comebacks in last week’s Southern Conference Tournament) and know you can do those things, then you don’t find a way to pull them out,” Kennedy said, noting multiple key hits in the game. “They did it early and we did it late. You have to do that. We just did it a couple more times.”

The Seahawks scored on Webb’s two-out throwing error before Corey Dick’s ground-rule double knocked in another fifth-inning run making it 5-2.

UNCW starter Mat Batts retired 12 consecutive batters until Quinn Bowers’ lead-off single in the sixth. Batts (9-4) gave up a lead-off single to Bresnahan in the seventh, and he was finished.

Bresnahan scored in the seventh, then added a clutch two-out, two-run single in the eighth.

“Bresnahan had a huge hit, 3-2 (count), infield in, and squared one up the middle,” UNCW coach Mark Scalf said. “We couldn’t come back. … It definitely makes a difference if you are down one or down three. Those two runs are huge when you are looking at six outs left offensively.”

Bresnahan said: “All I’m trying to do is extend the lead. … It’s always nice to keep scoring. We had that one-run lead and we wanted to tack on.”

Elon went up 2-0 in the second inning on Alex Swim’s triple, Alvarez’s double, Tyler McVicar’s sacrifice bunt and Danny Lynch’s RBI groundout. UNCW went ahead in the bottom of the inning on Andy Austin’s two-out, two-run double followed by a walk and Terence Connelly’s single.

Connelly’s two-out single in the sixth drove in a run after Elon failed to turn an inning-ending double play, closing the gap to 7-6.

It will be a mob scene for tonight’s clash considering spectators stood three-deep in spots to watch the Army / Virginia game Friday afternoon.

“That’s why we schedule the way we do,” Kennedy said. “We know what we’re capable of. … We won’t be in awe, just because we played that kind of schedule. Now we have to play good. This will take an extraordinary effort, we know that.”

Alvarez said: “Our fans are here, too. Not as many (as them). … (It) is going to be a zoo.”

Spencer Medick will start for Elon, with Scott Silverstein on the mound for Virginia in a matchup of left-handers.

-- EXTRA BASES …: Elon won its regional opener for the second time in six all-time appearances on the Division I level. … Alvarez had two doubles in a game for the first time this season. … Oft-injured Elon outfielder Niko Fraser had his first two-hit game in almost a month after limited playing time for several weeks. … There was a redo to start the game. Batts’ initial pitch didn’t count because a broadcast timing guy was still on the field and hadn’t given the go-ahead to begin. … Record-setting quarterback Scott Riddle, who also played as a third baseman for Elon, and ex-first baseman / pitcher Ryan Adams were Elon baseball alums in attendance. ... Corey Bass, who worked as a marketing assistant with ISP Sports (assigned to Elon) and later became director of football operations under former coach Pete Lembo before following Lembo to Ball State, was wearing UNCW colors Friday night. His father is Jimmy Bass, athletics director at UNCW.